"I haven't read this patent, and maybe there is something a little deeper to it, but from a first sniff, it doesn't pass the smell test."
Only difference between a spreadsheet and data base is the format/presentation....it's all the same data.
In 1992, Access was in it's infancy and no where near its present form. You needed a translator to do what this guy did.
Microsoft has been known to invite people in to show their technical products, then with a demo left ofr "evaluation" purposes, they reverse engineer it to take it for free. They then claim they were working on it before then. (They may have, but they were going in a different direction.)
They did it back with DOS 6.0 with disk compression.
Even though a company makes two different software packages, they may not communicate. Sometimes, different software teams approach development in different ways. Other times, SUites are compiled from corporate takeovers, so there is no link. Third parties do this kind of development all the time, and should be paid for their work.
I think the judge should have given him part of Bill Gates' mansion instead...I would take the bathrooms and charge him for their use. Or, better yet, sell him a use license that requires him to enter a 20-digit key code. Then, I would sell the toilet paper seperately, based on usage, for a minimal amount, of course.
I would make the lights sometimes not work and make promises that the next upgrade will have an improved lighting capability.
Oh, by the way, I was the original writer of the formula that all investment brokers use to show you how much money you need to invest each year in order to reach your retirement goals. I showed it to my broker and gave him a copy for his use.....two years later, everyone uses it.